In The End
by DetrimentalHabitsPt4
Summary: "He helped me. When I was lost and confused in a world full of lies, he helped me. He cared about me the way no other adult ever would...it was almost like having a parent again. But it's my fault...in the end, what happened...was my fault."


**Author's Notes:Okay! Habits here! So, taking a break from the Nightmare Saga, this idea popped into my head. This is a little thought on a few occurrences that might have happened immediately after Seto's takeover of KaibaCorp. This is just the prologue-the feedback on this and general acceptance kind of lets me know if I should continue or not. Well, I'm going to continue regardless, but posting is another matter. But then again, I might change my mind later.**

_**In The End**_  
><em><strong>Prologue<strong>_

The cemetery is deathly silent aside from the teenager's swift footfalls on the gravel path running down the little field's length. The grass has been trimmed recently, even though the city is deep within a frozen winter, and the trees are bent in snow-coated skeletal exhaustion.

The individual headstones are pure white and very well-kept, a task that the teen himself had seen to not so long ago. Ever since that time, about two years ago, he'd made sure that someone was always taking good care of the graveyard and everything residing within the light-colored iron gates surrounding it.

Unconsciously, the brunette teen rubs his arms against the chill, something he did only due to his present solitude. He feels that he's allowed to show a little bit of weakness when he isn't in the presence of others-others who are living, anyway. In a strange sense, he feels that he can trust the dead to look at him for who he really is rather than what he pretends to be.

'_Now I'm personifying the dead.'_ The teen thinks with a slight trace of irritation. _'Excellent.'_

He sighs resignedly, running his long fingers through his silky brown hair. He supposes that it's about time that he finally accepts that there are some things in life better left unexplained and that they should just be believed in. He'd learned that one the hard way, after he fought something the whole way only to find out that it was completely true.

His pace slows to a meandering walk as he crosses a little line of short, silvery-gray markers rising from the ground on both sides of the path. His eyes scan the individual white marble headstones, each with a pale blue insignia on the top, the names filling his mind.

_Kuroito Kanno. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Hank Tanata. 1965-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Anna Tanner. 1967-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Marcus Beverly. 1968-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Mika Hiko. 1972-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Kaname Muro. 1960-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Akehino Dahi. 1962-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Kina Lee. 1965-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Takuya Tatsoya. 1959-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Akani (Aki) Kantata. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Naoki Kyoko. 1968-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Buyako Ellisson. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Amy Harvard. 1971-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Gina Pamino. 1965-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Jake Harshfeld. 1967-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Chikita (Chika) Maron. 1973-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Lester (Les) Jenner. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Hisao Ishita. 1969-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Ken Jun. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Trenton Grace. 1972-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Mark Ashton. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Lili Ashton. 1967-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Ozuru Gaiden. 1964-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Diane (Dia) Rin. 1959-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Shelley Erda. 1960-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Kenneth (Kenny) Saburo. 1961-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Samuta (Sam) Rakuul. 1970-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Mary Kitani. 1966-1994. VirtuaSteel._

_Ava Kitani. 1966-1994. VirtuaSteel._

The teenager shakes his head, a little pain growing in his throat as his jaw works slightly. Two years hadn't done anything to dull his guilt and hurt over the incident. Despite the fact that he'd been able to push the disaster and the people involved out of his mind for a time, he knew that he couldn't flee from his past forever.

'_That's part of why I'm here.'_ He thinks determinedly as he spots one grave in particular. _'I have to come to terms with what has happened…I have to accept it.'_

He stands stiffly a few feet away from the headstone he's been searching for, his shoulders tensing up unconsciously. He reads the words engraved in the white stone several times, as though attempting to process the letters as something else other than what they are. His mind eventually gives in and allows him to comprehend what he's reading.

_Jakobi (Jacob) Taeran.  
>1965-1994.<br>VirtuaSteel._

"_Trust is felt through the eyes. When you can believe their eyes, you can believe yours, and thus, you can believe them."_

Seto Kaiba swallows hard as a tremor passes through his tall form, his hands clenching into tight fists.

'_Coming to terms…will be harder than I'd like it to be.'_ He thinks, and he closes his eyes, his thoughts returning to the past.

**What do you think? Reviews are love, but follow-ups are always an encouraging thing too.^^Have a nice day everyone, thanks for reading!**

**~Habits**


End file.
